NASA, Epic Games to develop virtual International Space Station simulation for training

A family of Osprey are seen outside the NASA Kennedy Space Center Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) in Cape Canaveral, Florida on Thursday May 13, 2010. Reuters/Bill Ingalls/NASA

NASA will be collaborating with Epic Games to develop a virtual space station using the Unreal Engine. Astronauts-in-training will be able to use these as part of their training before going to space.

The simulation is in virtual reality (VR), which means astronauts will have to wear a variety of gear before training. NASA software engineer Matthew Noyes said in a demonstration video that the simulation integrates the space organisation's training reigmen with VR devices.

The VR-based training also provides astronauts with a mock-up of actually leaving Earth and being in the International Space Station (ISS). This is because NASA knows the exact dimensions of the space station, which can make it easier to recreate in VR.

According to PC Authority, the virtual space simulation also features "active response gravity offload." Cranes attached to the back of the astronaut's armour will "lift" them off the ground. There are various settings that simulate the feeling of microgravity, Lunar gravity, and even Martian gravity.

While the VR simulation will be used as a supplementary tool for now, NASA may use it in the future for a wide variety of scenarios. For instance, they may use this to simulate potential atmospheric conditions in distant planets.

NASA astronauts have to undergo intense training in order to be prepared for various conditions in space. For instance, trainees have to dive in the "neutral buoyancy lab" that has 6.2-million gallons of water. They also have to learn how to operate the NASA "space vehicle mock-up facility," which is a life-sized model of the space shuttle orbiter. Astronauts have to spend two years of training before becoming fit for an actual space misson, such as going to the ISS.

The ISS is the largest structure man has ever put into space. It is a laboratory and observation platform for various research. According to Space, the US$100 billion (AU$131 billion) space station is co-sponsored by five different space agencies.

Meanwhile, NASA is no stranger to simulations either. Users can look at a Unity 3D asset store to find 3D models from NASA. Unreal Engine and Unity have been used by a wide variety of game developers and companies, such as BMW, Ikea and McLaren.

There are no details yet as to when and where the virtual space station will be docked. However, Tech Crunch also elaborated that the ISS space simulator in the Unreal Engine will be different than the "Mission: ISS" educational virtual reality game for the Oculus Rift.